xf_book_club | Story 202: "Laws of Motion" by Syntax6

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Story 202: "Laws of Motion" by Syntax6

Hi! I had spotty internet access the later part of March so

amyhit kindly filled in for my last turn. I'm bypassing the queue this time around to suggest a story I've been meaning to reread for at least six months. "Laws of Motion" is a sequel to "Universal Invariants," which we discussed back in November, 2010. If you haven't read her first story, you won't get as much out of the sequel. (But you totally should read UI! It's my favorite of

syntax6's stories!)

However, if you don't want to read "Universal Invariants" before tackling "Laws of Motion," here's a brief summary: "Universal Invariants" is an au in which Scully is living with her boyfriend Ethan (who was deleted from the pilot) when she is assigned to the X-Files. The novel spans all of season one and the beginning of season two through "One Breath," and has scenes from many of the episodes artfully woven through it. There is also an original casefile, which is the B plot, with the A plot being their developing partnership, and the effect it has on her personal life, especially her relationship with Ethan. HUGE SPOILER here: Scully gets engaged to Ethan after the X-Files are closed down, then has sex (amazing sex!) with Mulder while they are in Arecibo, Puerto Rico during "Little Green Men." Major awkwardness ensues, Mulder and Scully never discuss it, and she is too ashamed to tell Ethan. Then Scully is kidnapped by Duane Barry. Months later, when she is returned, not only is she missing time from the abduction, she can't remember earlier events, including what happened at Arecibo. Mulder can't bring himself to tell her. She never regains the lost memories, but breaks up with Ethan anyway. The End.

So. "Laws of Motion" picks up at the beginning of season five, just after "Redux 2." Scully is cured of cancer and Mulder has just brought her home from the hospital, when there is a phone call from her ex-boyfriend, Ethan. He's in jail, accused of murdering a colleague, and wants their help. Like "Universal Invariants," "Laws of Motion" is structured around a casefile, the murder Ethan has been accused of committing, but the story's focus is squarely on the secret (from the previous story) Mulder has been keeping from Scully and the consequences of that deception. It's a fun read and I remember loving it almost as much as "Universal Invariants."

"Universal Invariants"

"Laws of Motion"

Send feedback, tell Syntax6 we miss her, and please come back to let us know what you thought.

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Gosh, I just read both of those last week - wonderful writing. I miss Syn...

She is a wonderful writer, one of the most gifted I've read in this or any fandom.

I miss her too.

Edited to say, I've just finished rereading "Universal Invariants." I'm studying her writing technique for integrating canon episodes into her fanfiction. She does it better than anyone I've seen.

Edited 2012-04-03 05:28 (UTC)

This is totally unrelated to Laws of Motion, but apex was the answer to one of the clues in the LA Times Sunday Crossword this week. I had a big grin.

That makes me very happy, too.

Excellent choice. I've wanted to reread it as well.

Yes. Reading Syntax6 is like watching an episode, only it's (usually) better written. It's pure enjoyment.

I'm just reading Universal Invariants and I first didn't want to because I usually like the later stuff much better. I haven't read a ff that takes place in the early episodes in ages and now I really regret it. How they get to know each other, start to trust each other... it's really interesting and way more exciting than I ever thought it could be. I feel like it characterizes Mulder and Scully very well, which makes me like it even more... gotta go finish the story now and start laws of motion!

see ya
Eve

Also wanted to let you know that I read all the stories here every week and I enjoy this website very much.

Thank you! I am happy to know you are enjoying Universal Invariants since it's a favorite of mine. I am also happy to hear you enjoy the community. The feedback means a lot to me.

God these were such brilliant reads! I think it's probably the most frustratingly realistic description of "first" sex between Mulder and Scully, too; no one ever portrays their first kiss or sex as anything other than heavenly and it's the type of thing that is so unbearably awkward. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had a first kiss with a best friend that felt so strange and unfortunate while seeming so necessary. The characters are sooo spot on, and the first collection did a great job of exploring the strain of outside relationships that the show never dared to--a really incredible dynamic, I think. Not to mention the maintaining of FOUR DIFFERENT PLOTLINES--mytharc (and NEW mytharc elements), monsters of the week, arching investigation, and ROMANCE. Ugh, just, like...making a trophy out of my elation.

I think it's probably the most frustratingly realistic description of "first" sex between Mulder and Scully, too; no one ever portrays their first kiss or sex as anything other than heavenly and it's the type of thing that is so unbearably awkward.

Do you mean their first time in Universal Invariants, or their “second first time” in LOM? Because I thought their real first time was pretty astounding, actually. Maybe not “heavenly,” as that implies a kind of gentleness they didn’t have, but it was mind-meltingly great sex nonetheless. To me it seems...honestly, it seems pretty ideal in its own kind of messed up way.

Not to mention the maintaining of FOUR DIFFERENT PLOTLINES--mytharc (and NEW mytharc elements), monsters of the week, arching investigation, and ROMANCE. Ugh, just, like...making a trophy out of my elation.

YES. This is the aspect of Syn’s writing that I can never get over. It has everything, and it all fits together so well. There is literally no level on which her writing is not excellent. Her fics start with excellent characterization and outstanding use of canonical plot elements (better use of them than the show, for the most part), and they just build from there. I always believe in her plots and in the actions of her characters, and everything that happens feels earned. There’s never just some big, nasty plot element thrown it haphazardly to thrill the reader. Syn’s fics make big statements, but not without making sure they feel like inherent, necessary parts of the story.

I shall also make a trophy of my elation. Perhaps we can make her a shelf out of adulation to put her elation-trophies on?

Also wanted to let you know that I read all the stories here every week and I enjoy this website very much.

Thank you! I’m glad you enjoy our recs and discussions.

I'm so glad people are enjoying these. After the last story

amyhit and I decided we needed a "sure thing," and a Syntax6 story is usually loved by all, or at least most.

She handles sex scenes with unusual sensitivity, realism and brevity. See "Apex" for an example in a different genre, and the sex scene in "Bait and Switch" for yet another genre. All are excellent.

I think the angst/sex scenes in

amalnahurriyeh's fic are excellent and the sex is never dull. And

onemillionnine's sex scenes are by turns sexy, angsty and transcendent. .

Edited 2012-04-06 04:18 (UTC)

She handles sex scenes with unusual sensitivity, realism and brevity.

Yeah, I can’t think of any other fic writer who reliably writes sex scenes that are this gripping and hot. And you have a good point in mentioning their brevity. I don’t tend to notice that they’re short while I’m reading, because they’re extremely effective, and I guess that’s kind of the point: writing long sex scenes is, quite often, what a writer does when they’re not sure the sex scene is strongly written enough to be short and still be effective.

Syntax has written two of my favorite XF sex scenes, and I mean ever. The scene in Universal Invariants is one. I can’t say I like the sex scenes in LOM nearly as much as the one in UI, but they definitely work in the context of the story. The Mulder and Scully are older, wounded, more mistrustful, less willing (or able) to be swept up in frantic passion with even temporary disregard for the consequences.

Actually, the first sex scene in LOM sticks in my mind for how horrible it is. I find it more painful than any of the sex scenes in Iolokus, for example, despite Iolokus being a much more overtly dark and troubling story.

The sex scene in "Universal Invariants" is my favorite sex scene in fan fiction, period. It's perfect.

And you have a good point in mentioning their brevity. I don’t tend to notice that they’re short while I’m reading, because they’re extremely effective, and I guess that’s kind of the point: writing long sex scenes is, quite often, what a writer does when they’re not sure the sex scene is strongly written enough to be short and still be effective.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Actually, the first sex scene in LOM sticks in my mind for how horrible it is. I find it more painful than any of the sex scenes in Iolokus, for example, despite Iolokus being a much more overtly dark and troubling story.

That's a good point, although I must confess I don't actually remember any of the sex scenes in Iolokus and I just reread it last autumn. I remember two scenes best: the horrific scene where she lights the fetuses on fire and the holiday happy ending with the Mooselet. Go figure.

The first sex scene in LoM is a very painful read for me, too. I think it works because it fits within the context of the story, and because she doesn't let it drop: all of the painful aftermath is played out and worked out within the story's framework.

The Mulder and Scully are older, wounded, more mistrustful, less willing (or able) to be swept up in frantic passion with even temporary disregard for the consequences.

Yes, the scenes work because of how well they reflect the changes they've gone through by this point in the series. Plot and character, perfectly interwoven. She's just so damn good.

ugh that first sex scene in LoM I actually had to reread, because honestly it read nearly as rape/nonconsensual sex, and it was friggin disturbing. AND... I like LoM, but not as much as UI for a number of reasons.

The sex was certainly consensual--but at some point, Mulder's emotional IQ plummeted and he misinterpreted her responses. Things went rapidly downhill. I never would have read that as rape--but it still could be traumatizing for both parties. That seemed right to me. Things were too emotionally fraught between them for sex to go well. And Mulder knew it--that's why he refused to go along with her ~~emotional blackmail~~ request to begin with.

They're both emotional wrecks in this version of season five. It's the worst possible time for them to become sexually involved, which is why I don't find the story's resolution of the romantic complications very believable. I do understand why Syn felt it had to end that way. Her readers would have been grievously disappointed if they hadn't gotten their expected hit of MSR. But in rereading, I've concluded she needed a third part or a longer buildup. Something. It doesn't work.

I like the first story better as well, maybe because I've always thought they had a better shot at a viable relationship early on, before all of the damage is done. There should be more early season fanfic, period.

Edited to add--it is understandable that the scene was disturbing. I'm sure it was meant to be--she conveyed to her readers the emotional turmoil the characters were experiencing. Damn effective writing.

Edited 2016-06-19 07:23 (UTC)

Oh gods yes, more early season fanfic! Plus lets just be honest, the sex scene in UI was about perfect, and captured a Scully that could-have-been if she'd lived a life just a bit outside of canon (that is, the Ethan-less canon). UI took all the elements and wove everything together with perfection. LoM was great, but the emotional mess took up more time and space than I'd prefer. Not that I don't like emotional wrecks, because I totally DO (hello Iolokus and Tikkun Olam?), but when there is so much good plot and good story and casefile and weaving in of canon, the extreme focus on relationship turmoil was just not my favorite.

It's hard to say anything about Syntax6's work, because it's so superior. We have a number of writers with extraordinary talent, but Syntax is an example of one-stop-shopping. Without stylistic fanfare, she handles all aspects of her stories--plot, characterization, romantic tension, suspense--with aplomb. And she's gotten better for years. I sure hope she comes back to us.

It is amazing how she weaves the personal trauma of Mulder and Scully so skillfully through the various "interruptions" of their canon cases in Laws of Motion. It does not becomes tedious because she knows we know those events and elides them to speed things up. There is one unfortunate side effect here, and it's not her fault. All the incursions of mothmen and giant bugs etc. as counterposed against Scully trying to resolve the sexual tension with Mulder tend to make us laugh at the sheer absurdity of the files, the distance from "normal" life's difficulties. I mean boyfriend trouble is one thing; getting your (maybe) boyfriend out of the bin because he's hallucinating supernatural creatures is a whole other. But that's series tv for you, and science fiction. There's a reason, I suppose, why science fiction has had a problem keeping up with character-based literature. But I digress.

Incidentally, Syntax's handling of Scully during the In Plain Sight case (title?) was more sympathetic than 1013's.

I have one nit with LOM, and although it's absurdly small I can't get it out of my mind. When Scully announces that she has discovered Mulder has impregnated her ("Sex!! Like, when??"), she hands him one of those cheesy plastic-wrapped cigars. This is our Scully? It's obviously an awkward moments of awkward moments, but a plastic cigar? Where do they even sell those things? Surely not in hospital gift shops. Maybe.

I do not know why most of this post is in ital. I recuse myself.

I agree about the cigar, it doesn't really seem to fit with Scully's sense of humor. I could maybe see Mulder buying *her* a cigar.

As far as whether or not you could buy that kind of thing, I can't be certain but I believe in 1998 when this story was set, you could still buy cigars in our gift shop for the fathers to pass out to visitors, although you couldn't smoke in the rooms. Even today, you can buy cheap cigars like Scully purchased in any grocery store in California, along with cigarettes. They're locked up in a case. I don't know about the Washington DC area, of course.

My take on why Scully buys it is that she wants a prop. She's rehearsed this part because she had to in order to get through it. She needed an opening line and hit on the traditional cigar as a way of doing it. It's just a device, a way of getting through the speech. I can even picture her stopping off at the market to get one, steeling herself for the conversation ahead. It's not meant to be funny. And I can't picture Mulder giving one to her under any circumstances. "Congratulations, Scully, you're a father?" How would that work?

Edited 2012-04-14 15:49 (UTC)

Because for him, it would be a joke. Her sense of humor is very dry. His is more goofy/absurd.

There is no humor in this situation, ever, for either of them, given the circumstances surrounding the death of the little girl. Scully's not making a joke, not one that was meant to make him laugh. We know she's angry because as she see it, she's now been doubly betrayed. The "one true thing" in her life was her trust in Mulder and she's lost that. She's being deliberately sarcastic, even bitterly ironic; that's how I interpret her tone. "Congratulations, Mulder," translating to f__k you, Mulder. He's not laughing. He's shocked. He's flabbergasted. That was the reaction she wanted.

Mulder has a goofy sense of humor but Emily is a deadly serious topic for both of them. He'd never joke about her, anymore than Scully would, that's what I was trying (and clearly failing) to say.

There's ha-ha jokes and there's OMG-I-have-to-lighten-this-conversation-before-we-both-start-sobbing jokes, though. I actually meant that Mulder might joke with her like that in other circumstances. I doubt he would do the same thing in the same circumstance.

I do understand her feelings in that scene, I just don't think the prop feels like her.

That was my point. It feels like a writer misstep.

It feels like a writer misstep.

And it doesn't to me, which I guess was mine.

Re: the cigar debate

I agree with wendelah that Scully’s gesture clearly says “Fuck you, Mulder.” But I agree with EC and infinitlight that it’s really not a Scullyish gesture. Mulder’s the one who is prone to muddying the waters with a pseudo-joke. Her handing him the cigar makes me thinking of his comment at the end of “Never Again” about getting something or other tattooed on his ass.

Scully’s anger at him is completely understandable (and quite deserved, I think). It’s just her method of displaying it that feels off.

However, I do think Scully giving Mulder a cigar speaks to…something. Um. Maybe it speaks to the rather patriarchal nature of the show (on a Doylist level) and the way Scully’s life has been so detrimentally shaped by men (on a Watsonian level). It’s a scathing gesture that inherently acknowledges a gender divide. It brings to mind the image of a bunch of men clapping each other on the back, firm handshakes all around, congratulating each other on having produced heirs.

Granted, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I’m not suggesting that simply smoking a cigar to celebrate becoming a father makes one an egocentric chauvinist. But Scully giving him a cigar seems to be suggestive of how the consortium sees the situation: her violation, his progeny; Scully is what's done to her, Mulder is what he does.

However, I do think Scully giving Mulder a cigar speaks to…something. Um. Maybe it speaks to the rather patriarchal nature of the show (on a Doylist level) and the way Scully’s life has been so detrimentally shaped by men (on a Watsonian level). It’s a scathing gesture that inherently acknowledges a gender divide. It brings to mind the image of a bunch of men clapping each other on the back, firm handshakes all around, congratulating each other on having produced heirs.

Yes, it does.

Granted, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I’m not suggesting that simply smoking a cigar to celebrate becoming a father makes one an egocentric chauvinist. But Scully giving him a cigar seems to be suggestive of how the consortium sees the situation: her violation, his progeny; Scully is what's done to her, Mulder is what he does.

Very insightful, as always.

I thought this was great. I agree with Anon above about the sex scenes, they're realistic in a way that resonates rather than in a deliberately descriptive way. They're perfect for the characters, too, and I usually don't think any sex scenes work for these characters.

I loved the story and the way the Laws of Motion story worked into canon. I was always pretty fond of the idea of Ethan--I think he was an interesting addition to Scully's life and had the potential to show more of how she changed over the first few seasons. How she gave things away and had other things taken from her. In season one, she goes out on dates, she canonically for a millisecond had a boyfriend, she hangs out with her godson and friends. Some of these things she can't keep up with over time. Some she chooses not to.

The romance even worked for me, because it wasn't overdone or the focus of everything. I can't ever see M&S's lives becoming romance novels, the end of IWTB notwithstanding. If they were going to get together, it was always going to be squeezed into the cracks between meetings and coffee and departure lounges and cheap hotels and murder cases. I love that Laws of Motion "gets them".

Syn did a really good Ethan. Most have seen unused snippet of film in which Ethan appears. I have made an effort of some years duration not to picture that actor.

The romance even worked for me, because it wasn't overdone or the focus of everything. I can't ever see M&S's lives becoming romance novels, the end of IWTB notwithstanding. If they were going to get together, it was always going to be squeezed into the cracks between meetings and coffee and departure lounges and cheap hotels and murder cases. I love that Laws of Motion "gets them".

Yes, this works for me because the romance is portrayed in a way that feels very consistent with who they are as characters on screen. Syntax6 really does "get them" and she doesn't change them to fit into her story line. She fits her story into the canon, which is why their interaction never feels like its sliding into conventional romance. It's brilliant. And it's rare.

It's hard to say anything about Syntax6's work, because it's so superior.

Yes, I’ve been struggling with this for the last week and a half. Her writing is just so good across the board that I have no idea what to say about it, other than “Wow, this.” Laws of Motion deserves a very long, very in depth examination (and lots n' lots of praise) but I'm afraid I'm not quite up to the task at the moment.

For the most part you could c/p me raving about one of Syn’s fics and apply it to any one of her fics, though I do have favorites of course. The way the plot comes together in LOM is brilliant. The way it pulls together the weak threads of the Emily storyline and makes them far more cohesive and powerful is fantastic. And even though the events of LOM are extremely hard on Scully, I feel the fic does her justice by acknowledging her strength and her violation, rather than only paying attention to the facts that are convenient to move the plot wherever the writers have decided to take it. And hell, in the end Mulder comes out better as well. By actually acknowledging how wrong he was to conceal the things he did from Scully, it gives the character a chance to mature, make better choices in the future and whatnot.

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Story 202: "Laws of Motion" by Syntax6

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